I have been reading Philip Schaff's 8 volume 'History of the Christian Church' for my Church history class. He is an absolutely tremendous author. I could sing his praise for a few paragraphs very easily, I'm sure, but let it suffice to say he is up among the best of Christian historians. There are many passages which I could quote, but for this post I will constrain myself to one. When I read this passage, it resonated deeply with my heart. My admiration for womankind has increased greatly over my Christian life of the past year (Monday was actually my anniversary).

I have come to realize something, in the short time I have been a Christian. We don't have any men any more. We have few enough people who care at all for spiritual things, and those few are the women. Girls who care something about spiritual matters you will find scattered here and there; women who are examples of what the true woman looks like, living and breathing in the flesh. Don't get me wrong, even this is a rare occurrence, but when you find it, it is gem shining forth brightly in our society.

The most godly of women, I think, will never be recognized and glorified by men or by the secular community. This, in my eyes, elevates them even further on the scale of other-worldiness. What joy must our Lord have when he sees the humble purity of heart and gentleness of his little daughters!

Now the full realization of a godly woman is all-to-wanting in our society. But I would come down so much more harshly on my side: the men. As I put it one time: "Despite the artillery fire of feminism upon Christian women of America, they continue to be the ones who are holding Christianity together. We men just goof off in their immaturity, laxity, and un-spirituality. Props to you guys." Even if the full realization of such is rare, there are many more numbers of Christian women who are seeking God to at least some extent than men who are seeking after God and his ways. Women seem to have more of a draw to God… perhaps it's because of the way culture has always so demeaned women.

The woman has always been a slave to man, she has always been trampled over and used to satisfy the insatiable lust of men, she has always been tyrannically ruled and abused and played. Even with all the woman's rights and feminism that is so rampant today, really it's just a facade. Our culture in no wise thinks of women in their proper place. Just look at pornography. The abominable filth polutes most homes throughout America in some form or another. Look at our movies, our music, our books. They do not treat women with respect; far from it. Our culture is still as far from elevating woman to her proper place than any culture has ever been.

But this is where Christianity comes in. There is yet hope to be found, there is still God to be striven for. This high wall of injustice and maltreatment only drives us closer to God and Christianity, the only solution to the problem. Perhaps this is the reason women seem to be more attracted to Christianity than men. Who knows? I don't.

But read this quote from Schaff. Props to you Christian women. Strive to shine so brightly that you cannot help but lead your poor, blind, immature, ignorant brothers closer to Christ. Your gentleness and humility is the strength and pride of man.

Henceforth we find woman no longer a slave of man and tool of lust, but the pride and joy of her husband, the fond mother training her children to virtue and godliness, the ornament and treasure of the family, the faithful sister, the zealous servant of the congregation in every work of Christian charity, the sister of mercy, the martyr with superhuman courage, the guardian angel of peace, the example of purity, humility, gentleness, patience, love, and fidelity unto death. Such women were unkown before. The heathen Libanius, the enthusiastic eulogist of old Grecian culture, pronounced an involuntary euology on Christianity when he exclaimed, as he looked at the mother of Chrysostom: "What women the Christians have!"